Queen's sky-jump double: 'I think they liked my legs'

Gary Connery (no relation to Sean) is also no stranger to jumps; he's the first skydiver in history to land safely without a parachute.

There's a new Bond girl on the block, and she just happens to be the reigning Queen of England.

For many spectators around the world, it was the queen who stole the show during the opening ceremony when she "jumped" from a plane with current James Bond.

Only, it wasn’t actually Queen Elizabeth making the leap. It was male stunt double Gary Connery, dressed in a sparkly pink dress and white wig ("Bond" actor Daniel Craig had a stand-in, too).

While Connery went through several rehearsals, the opening ceremony was the first time he wore his costume. “I mean I’ve worn my own dresses out loads of times,” he joked with TODAY’s Matt Lauer on Monday. “But in terms of the jump it was the first time.”

Connery test-jumped over an airfield and then over the Olympic Stadium. In true 007 style, the rehearsals were done steathily and under a shroud of darkness. "We probably did, I think, four rehearsals over the stadium, but kind of at the dead of night so nobody saw what we were up to,” he said.

Connery poses in the plane with Daniel Craig's double, pre-jump.

It's no wonder James Bond jumped with the queen; he is charged with protecting her in his role at MI6, the British intelligence agency. In a famous scene from the 1977 film "The Spy Who Loved Me," one girl says desperately to Bond, "But James, I need you!" As he walks out the door with a parachute and goggles he says, "So does England."

“London is the center of everything relating to Bond," author and espionage expert Nigel West told TODAY. "He is the personification of the central British character.”

Lauer asked Connery why opening ceremony director Danny Boyle and his team didn't get a female skydiver to do the risky stunt.

Connery is no stranger to big jumps. Not only does he make a career out of being a stunt double, he also leaped into the history books earlier this year when he became the first skydiver to land safely without using a parachute. Instead, he told Lauer, he wore a wingsuit and jumped "like a flying squirrel" from a helicopter at 2,400 feet, landing on a runway made of nearly 19,000 cardboard boxes.

Fans who can't get enough of the now-renowned jumper can look forward to next year, when he lands in Vegas on the 4th of July. No word yet on whether he'll be in his flying squirrel suit or a sparkly pink dress.

Discuss this post

I agree! The whole Bond sequence was very creative and Atkinson...well, 'nuff said there.

Her Majesty is no shrinking violet. During the Second World War, she spent most of her time as a member of the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, most likely buried up to her armpits in axle grease.

So I can't help but wonder: knowing her as we do, how many folks thought--just for a few seconds--whether it was really the monarch taking a header out of that helicopter.

Of course it's ridiculous. She's the reigning Queen and she's 86 years old. No way would they take that monumental and foolhardy risk. It was a professional stuntman, and he's already been named in the press.

But still...being the tough lady she is, if she *did* try it, I'd wager she'd make it count.

Classic in British style. It was said that the Brits spent 13 billion on the current games and the Chinese 40 billion back in 2008. Although, the opening cermony was more spectacular in 2008. But only the Brits can give us Bond, The Beatlles, Zeppilon, Poppins, Churchill, The Who, and of course The Queen. The Chinese gave the world gunpowder. Go figure.

I was also thinking that the Beijing ceremony was more colorful but the Chinese didn't have all the cultural background that the world recognized immediately compared to the British, so I guess that was why London could get away with spending less money.

Agreed. Beijing Opening & Closing ceremonies were absolutely spectacular. It will take alot to top that one. The scrolling floor. The Video screen that encircled the entire crown of the stadium. And of course the fireworks.

The Opening Ceremony by the Brits was good, but I found it a bit on the boring side. The best part of it was the Industrial Revolution and how they were able to make the scenery changes right before our eyes. It was great, but when you compare it to Beijing, it falls a bit short. Although the fireworks were extremely spectacular, and the way David Beckham brought in the Olympic torch was also a nice touch.

I hope they go out with a bang at the closing ceremony. You know that Rio will go all out in 2016. Multiply Carnival by a thousand.

London did a fantastic job in the difficult position of following the Beijing extravaganza. The U.K. showcased its considerable widely-known contributions and/or achievements with something for everyone, recognizing that only China with a population of 1.3 billion can recruit a super-size cast of thousands. The population of the U.K. is 64 million. The U.S. has 4 times the population of the U.K.; China's has 20 times more than the U.K. (And China's talent pool also works in its favor in the quest for medals.) But the U.K. has things like its cultural and industrial achievements as well as its National Health Service and a queen that they can enjoy and take pride in. Danny Boyle did a wonderful job of weaving all into an opening night narrative that probably was even better if unedited for TV.

Sorry, I wasn't impressed. The Chinese display was much more colorful with their dragons and fireworks. The British opening was boring for non-English speaking audiences without the history of the industrial revolution, etc. The Mr. Bing thing was silly and had no place. The Rap singer was disgraceful for the rich British history that could have been presented. Since English is the current universal language, it would have been nice to show why English became so popular and how the crown was well known worldwide. I enjoyed the beginning but it became boring. I'm hopeful the Brazilian opening will be colorful, exciting and shows the entire beautiful country from their beaches to the Amazon and everything in between.

I thought the whole bit was hilarious, however, it would have been all the better if the Queen hadn't come into view with that stoneface she has. If she would have been smiling, waving, and possible straightening her dress, now that would have been the bomb!